#75 - Ueno Zoo and Tokyo Skytree - 16 June 2013

Ueno Zoo

Ueno Zoo is the oldest zoo in Japan. Also known as 恩賜上野動物園 (Onshi Ueno Doubutsu-en), it was founded in 1882 and currently covers about 14.3 hectares of land. It lies in the Ueno Park grounds, which is a large urban park with museums and galleries and other attractions.

There are over 460 species kept in Ueno Zoo. There were animals such as penguins, kangaroos, giraffes, elephants, tigers, hippos, birds, red pandas - the list goes on! However, perhaps the most famous is the panda. Unfortunately, at the time I visited, the female panda was kept inside, as it was thought she was pregnant, and we couldn't see the male through the enclosure (or the people!). The panda has almost become a symbol of Ueno. Even around Ueno train station, you can see statues of pandas, gifts and sweets in the shape of pandas, pictures, images, and so on!

Polar bear!

Japanese bears!

View of art of Ueno Park
from the hotel room.

I spent a long time watching the polar bear. First, it was playing with a floating orange ball in the water. Then, it managed to get the top from an orange cone, and would throw it into the water and chase it like a fish! Other than the polar bear, there were other bear enclosures too. When I was at the zoo, the weather wasn't great, but I really enjoyed looking at the animals!

Tokyo Skytree

Looking up from near the base.

On the same afternoon, I also visited Tokyo Skytree for the first time. Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー) is one of the newest additions to Tokyo's skyline, standing at 634 metres tall, it became the tallest tower in the world, and the second tallest structure in the world (after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai). You can see Tokyo Skytree in the distance from most areas in Tokyo, so of course it has become a popular photo object!

One of the views.

There are two observation decks, with great views across Tokyo. The Tembo Deck stand at 350 metres and spans across 3 floors. There is a souvenir shop and a restaurant, as well as a cafe and glass panels on the floor to see to the bottom (eep!). The Tembo Gallery is at 450 metres. Here, you can walk up a sloping spiral ramp, which circles the tower to give great views.  

Underneath Skytree there are is a large shopping complex and also an aquarium, so it would be easy to spend a long time there! Here you will also find Tokyo Skytree Station (which used to be called Narihirabashi Station) making it very easy to get to Skytree by train. 

#70 - Tokyo and Cherry blossoms - April 2013

The themed drinks from the scary restaurant.
Like a mad scientist's equipment.

In the first weekend of April, I visited Tokyo. I stayed at the apartment of someone from my initial training group, and I was very thankful to her! We met up with some other teachers from the same training group who lived and worked around the Tokyo area, and we spent the day touring Ueno park, Akihabara, Harajuku, Shibuya and Shinjuku. In the evening we went to a themed restaurant called the Lock Up. This was actually terrifying! The theme was basically to scare you, so the staff were dressed in masks and costumes. Every so often, all the lights would turn off in the building and UV lights would come on. The staff would then sneak around in full monster costumes and try to scare you to death! Luckily, this only happened once while we were there. We quickly ate and left! But it was definitely an interesting and fun experience!

 Around April it is cherry blossom season. So, on the next weekend I was able to have my first cherry blossom viewing party. This is known as 花見（はなみ ）hanami in Japanese. We went to a park in Sendai and laid down our blue tarp on the ground. Basically what happens in a hanami party is that you sit outside – preferably under or near a cherry tree – and eat and drink alcohol and have fun with a group. If I remember correctly, I think we arrived around midday, and we left the park around midnight. Some of the group got excruciatingly drunk, like the majority of people during cherry blossom viewing. Unfortunately, the peak for the blossoms were earlier in the week, so this was towards the end before they started to fall off more. Nevertheless, it was still a great party and very beautiful.